I'm genuinely excited about this!!
Ok, ok, this is why I'm not. But I still can't wait to read it!
24.5.07
22.5.07
Priorities
Wow. I mentioned last time that I've purchased a home and that my wife and I are embarking on the great, steep learning curve that is ownership! Well, we've yet to make a mortgage payment (first one due in a week) and are wondering how this is going to change our lives...
There are some requisites when you buy a home that didn't seem so important as renters. For example, furniture. Our furniture is ugly. It looks even more ugly in a nice looking place! Now, don't get me wrong, our last home was great, but it was a basement suite. Though it had good natural light for a basement suite, it simply doesn't compare to a fourth floor apartment... so we're upgrading the furniture to this lovely couch and loveseat. Now we're just waiting (they don't arrive until July!):
Ok, then there are less frivilous things like TVs (we must get a plasma or LCD screen soon - we'll see) - oh yeah, that's really frivolous... wait.... like a vacuum cleaner! That's not frivolous at all! In fact, our carpet is crying out to us, even now! Now, I know what you're thinking... Brent's been living on his own for more than 10 years, why doesn't he have a vacuum cleaner? Well, the answer to that is that I've always lived somewhere where there already was one in place, or it was unnecesary, like our tile-floored basement suite. So there. And now Alex and I have been searching for this tool and wondering what we should get. I ordered this yesterday:
If you'd like to learn more about our fabulous Dyson DC18 bagless upright vacuum cleaner, including a wonderful 360 degree picture of it and some "movies" of its fine features, click here.
Anyhow, then there are the "hidden" costs. Things that you'd never really think about if you've never bought a house before... like the GST (on a house! think about it!!!), though this only applies to new homes. Like the property transfer tax (a ridiculous tax instituted by our provincial government - 2% on the first $100K and 1% thereafter - do the math, it adds up), though we were able to get out of this one as 1st time buyers. Like the legal fees (probably over $1000 for almost anyone), the home insurance ($100s of dollars each year), your assumed portion of the hydro/water/etc bills, and some more. My favorite is that you pay property taxes in the middle of the year for the whole year. So we moved in May 1st and the taxes are billed mid-May for 2007. Lucky us! Either way you shake it, you're paying for the property taxes, so it'd come up anyhow, but yeah, good times (another $1000+)!
Needless to say, there are still more costs rolling in and Alex and I keep wondering what the end result of all this will be...we're glad to own finally and willing to take on this responsibility but wow. Just wow. I don't want to think about kids just yet :)
Be blessed!
There are some requisites when you buy a home that didn't seem so important as renters. For example, furniture. Our furniture is ugly. It looks even more ugly in a nice looking place! Now, don't get me wrong, our last home was great, but it was a basement suite. Though it had good natural light for a basement suite, it simply doesn't compare to a fourth floor apartment... so we're upgrading the furniture to this lovely couch and loveseat. Now we're just waiting (they don't arrive until July!):
Ok, then there are less frivilous things like TVs (we must get a plasma or LCD screen soon - we'll see) - oh yeah, that's really frivolous... wait.... like a vacuum cleaner! That's not frivolous at all! In fact, our carpet is crying out to us, even now! Now, I know what you're thinking... Brent's been living on his own for more than 10 years, why doesn't he have a vacuum cleaner? Well, the answer to that is that I've always lived somewhere where there already was one in place, or it was unnecesary, like our tile-floored basement suite. So there. And now Alex and I have been searching for this tool and wondering what we should get. I ordered this yesterday:
If you'd like to learn more about our fabulous Dyson DC18 bagless upright vacuum cleaner, including a wonderful 360 degree picture of it and some "movies" of its fine features, click here.
Anyhow, then there are the "hidden" costs. Things that you'd never really think about if you've never bought a house before... like the GST (on a house! think about it!!!), though this only applies to new homes. Like the property transfer tax (a ridiculous tax instituted by our provincial government - 2% on the first $100K and 1% thereafter - do the math, it adds up), though we were able to get out of this one as 1st time buyers. Like the legal fees (probably over $1000 for almost anyone), the home insurance ($100s of dollars each year), your assumed portion of the hydro/water/etc bills, and some more. My favorite is that you pay property taxes in the middle of the year for the whole year. So we moved in May 1st and the taxes are billed mid-May for 2007. Lucky us! Either way you shake it, you're paying for the property taxes, so it'd come up anyhow, but yeah, good times (another $1000+)!
Needless to say, there are still more costs rolling in and Alex and I keep wondering what the end result of all this will be...we're glad to own finally and willing to take on this responsibility but wow. Just wow. I don't want to think about kids just yet :)
Be blessed!
12.5.07
Missing months
So sad that another month will be missing in my archives list...sigh. Oh well!
Some big news on the Snitchy-Switchy front: my wife and I purchased a condominium dwelling unit for our very selves. That's been keeping me pretty busy, along with work and all. Moving is harsh man...
But now I am an official Langlian, or Langley-ite, or Langleyer I guess. Whatever I am, my address has changed and that's that. The drive to work is blissful and kind. The view from the balcony is serene. The drug addict in the bushes across the street shooting up heroin is dropping my property values... (sad but true). Though I don't really care, about the property values I mean... mostly.
Much change in life right now. It's good. It's good.
Be blessed!
Some big news on the Snitchy-Switchy front: my wife and I purchased a condominium dwelling unit for our very selves. That's been keeping me pretty busy, along with work and all. Moving is harsh man...
But now I am an official Langlian, or Langley-ite, or Langleyer I guess. Whatever I am, my address has changed and that's that. The drive to work is blissful and kind. The view from the balcony is serene. The drug addict in the bushes across the street shooting up heroin is dropping my property values... (sad but true). Though I don't really care, about the property values I mean... mostly.
Much change in life right now. It's good. It's good.
Be blessed!
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